The Devany's Take on Europe

At the beginning of April Mom, Dad, Maggie, and Carrie (honorary Devany) came to visit me in Greece. It was so wonderful to see them and get to share this part of my life with them. On the first day they were here I showed them around my neighborhood and took them on a "death march" up Lykavattus Hill. Granted it was all uphill and eventually it got so steep it turned into stairs, but from the top there is a beautiful view of the entire city. Right Mom, wasn't it worth it? For dinner that night we went to a taverna that was in the neighborhood down by my school. We had a delicious selection of Greek food including my favorite, tzatziki! And dad got his lamb. We were even treated to live Greek music.

The next day we went to the Acropolis, the Agora, Syntagma Square, the stadium, the flee market, Plaka, Monastraki, and the Parliament. It was a full day of seeing the sights. Mom, Dad, and Maggie then headed off for some Greek islands while I stayed behind to go to class, I know, it's a hard life :)

On Friday I left for Rome to visit Kathleen and experience Easter in Rome. What an incredible weekend! I toured the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistene Chapel with other Notre Dame students studying abroad. It was nice to see familiar faces and be back together with people from Notre Dame. Kathleen and I went to the Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. The Pope said the mass and although it was mostly in Latin and Italian it was a beautiful and very spiritual experience. We had to wait in a very long line to get into the basilica and I don't think I have ever seen so many Catholics so excited to go to mass before. Literally thousands of people lined St. Peter's Square. When they started letting people in it was crazy! Priests were pushing me, nuns were being scolded by the police and told to slow down, and older ladies were running with their walking canes in hand. Since it was the vigil mass, the liturgy started with spreading the light from the Easter candle around the church. It was beautiful to see St. Peter's lit by candlelight.

On Monday I met up with Mom, Dad, and Maggie and we headed off for adventures in Assisi, Florence, and Sienna (with a little wine tasting in Tuscany mixed in). What a wonderful week! I absolutely loved Florence. We climbed to the top of the Duomo (463 stairs up!) for an amazing view of the city. I also ate the most delicious food there- you know me and my love of food. Pasta, bread, gelato, wine, tiramasu :) I was a happy girl. There were mopeds, churches, and gelaterias everywhere. The city had so much to see, but it was easily walkable (not so easy to drive in as we quickly found out the first day when we tried to return the rental car). In Florence we also saw the Ponte Vechio, the Ufizzi Museum, and Piazza Michaelangelo. On our way to Sienna we stopped at an old castle to do some wine tasting and culture outselves about chianti classico. A truly memorable spring break!